SFI Leader's Death: Kolkata Police Claim Accident, Family Cries Foul

A 23-year old student activist is dead. And the West Bengal government headed by Mamata Banerjee is busy proving it was an accident. At the same time, the dead student's father and other protestors have put the blame directly on police brutality and the government.Sudipto Gupta, an MA student in the Rabindra Bharati University and an activist of the Students Federation of India (SFI), died in Kolkata of a head injury after being detained by police during a protest.While police said they were not to blame for the death and that he died after falling down from a bus, his friends said police had beaten him.

The incident took place when hundreds of SFI activists hit the streets to protest against a government decision to stall student union elections in all educational institutions for six months. The police arrested 331 SFI supporters and put Gupta and 30 others activists into a bus to be taken to a police station. Gupta allegedly fell from the running bus, suffered serious wounds and died in a hospital.

Sudipto Gupta's father Pronob Kumar Gupta, however, refused to accept any help from the state government. "My son was beaten to death. Is it justice? I was a central government employee. I get pension. I cannot accept any money. It is against my principle. She is offering me money, but can she return my son?" he said.Asked about Banerjee's statement that Sudipta died after he hit a post, Pronob Kumar reiterated that his son was beaten to death and he would fight for justice.__PAGEBREAK__But with all the finger pointing and promises of judicial probes, along with an impending protest against the 'Hitler' Didi in sight, the big question that is coming to the fore is, 'Who is to blame for the death'?. Lame excuses are already in order and opposition parties in Bengal have already turned it into a political issue. To top it, Mamata Banerjee has offered a pathetic media response which included her saying that many of her party workers had also died the same way!

Under pressure from opposition after the death West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today termed the episode as "unfortunate", but evaded a question on whether a judicial probe would be ordered as demanded by the CPI-M."Any death is unfortunate. This is also unfortunate. I will not say anything more than this," Banerjee told reporters here outside the state-run SSKM hospital where Sudipto's body was kept.She said this in response to a media query that whether the state government would order a judicial inquiry into the death as demanded by opposition CPI-M.

Banerjee said the SFI leader was killed after he collided against a post, and claimed many of her own party workers had died in this way. She said she visited the hospital to express her sympathy and assured all help to the bereaved family.SFI activists present at the hospital raised slogans against her during the visit.__PAGEBREAK__Sudipto's death has triggered a row with the police claiming it as an accident while CPI-M alleges that he succumbed to injuries sustained in police lathicharge.In a separate development, the driver of the bus in which the SFI leader along with other supporters were being taken away after arrest by the police was arrested. The police claimed that SFI supporters had turned violent and threw rotten tomatoes and eggs at the policemen deployed in their protest venue.

Meanwhile, an SFI leader told reporters today that inspite of an advance notice by the student body, there was no adequate police deployment at the venue of their protest where over 6,000 students, including women supporters, had assembled.In protest against the incident, the SFI has called for a 12-hour 'bandh' in some area of south Kolkata tomorrow.

The main opposition party, CPI-M has demanded a judicial probe into Sudipto's death. "We just cannot accept this act of the police in any state where the police grants permission for peaceful demonstrations to be held. But in Kolkata, it beats up the students, arrests them, takes them in buses and in the process virtually murders a student," CPI(M) Politburo member Sitaram Yechury told reporters.

"Under police custody, such a death is something that cannot be accepted. The police version (that he died after falling from the bus) is incredulous. Therefore, we think there should be a judicial inquiry into this," he added."The death was not natural - it was unnatural. So, an independent inquiry is a must to look into the incident in order to bring out the truth," state Congress president Pradip Bhattacharjee said.